Remotely controlled toy space ship



Dec. 20, 1956 WOLFE 3,292,304

REMOTELY CONTROLLED TOY SPACE SHIP Filed April 17, 1964 1; Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR P0554 771 WOLFE ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1966 R. A. WOLFE 3,292,304

REMOTELY CONTROLLED TOY SPACE SHIP Filed April 1 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 -95, 96 L O J D T 1 c E INVENTOR foam/A. 14 04/29 ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1966 R. A. WOLFE 3,292,364

REMOTELY CONTROLLED TOY SPACE SHIP Filed April 1 1964 5 Sheets$heet 3 NVENTOR. 055 974 MM;

ORNEYS United States Patent 3,292,304 REMOTELY CONTROLLED TOY SPACE SHIP Robert A. Wolfe, 455 Elizabeth Ave., Newark, NJ. 07112 Filed Apr. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 360,711 8 Claims. (Cl. 46-244) The present invention relates to toys.

More particularly, the present invention relates to toys which move in the air.

One of the primary objects of the present invention 1s to provide a toy which will simulate a space ship.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a toy which will simulate a space ship and which will enable the operator of the toy to cause movement of the toy space ship in a controlled manner.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a toy of the above type which will permit the operator to maneuver the toy space ship through a wide range of movements including up and down movements to change the elevation of the space ship, forward and rearward movements, and in addition right turns and left turns.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a toy of the above type which enables the operator to control the space ship from a location remote from the space ship. I

The objects of the present invention also include the provision of a toy which is made up of simple electrical components which can be operated to bring about the desired maneuvering of the space ship.

Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide a toy which is harmless to operate and which can not injure any objects which it may encounter.

The invention includes a container which is adapted to be filled with a gas which is lighter than air and which, when filled with this gas, will float in the air in a state of substantial equilibrium. The container carries a plurality of propellers driven by reversible electric motors, and these motors are electrically connected through a suitable conductor means with a manually operatable selecting means which is distant from the container means during use of the toy and which can be manipulated by the operator to provide through the conductor means circuits for the plurality of reversible electric motors which will bring about a wide range of maneuvering movements of the floating container, which has a configuration simulating the configuration of a space ship.

The invention is'illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of the application and in which:

' FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective illustration of the toy of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the container means of the invention and the structure carried thereby, the container means being shown in FIG. 2 as it appears when looking upwardly toward the bottom of the container means when it has the position shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional plan view showing the details of one motor and propeller assembly carried by the container means, the particular motor and propeller assembly of FIG. 3 being situated at the left side of the container means;

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows and showing the bottom motor and propeller assembly which is eflective for raising and lowering the floating container means, FIG. 4 showing, also additional details;

FIG. 5 is a wiring diagram of the structure of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional elevation showing details of the manually'operatable selecting means which 3,292,304 Patented Dec. 20, 1966 enables the operator to select the type of movement which will be carried out by the floating container means, FIG. 6 being taken along the lines 6-6 of the FIG. 7 in the direction of the arrows but showing structure in addition to that which is shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 7 is a sectional plan view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 6 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 6 in the direction of the arrows and showing a stationary contact means of the invention as it appears when looking toward the underside thereof:

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary plan view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 6 and showing the configuration of a cutout in the top wall of the control assembly which controls the movement of tiltable contacts of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated therein the con tainer means A which is adapted to be filled with gas which is lighter than air and which, when filled with this gas, will float in the air in a state of substantial equilibrium. The container means A carries a moving means B in the form of motor driven propeller assemblies, for example, so that during operation the moving means B will displace the containermeans A in the air. An electrical flexible conductor means C is electrically connected with the motors of the moving means B and extends from the container means A to a location remote from the container means A where a manually operatable selecting means D is situated, this selecting means being operated in a manner described below to provide at the option of the operator any one of a number of different types of movements of the container means A. The conductor when the interior of the container means is inflated the container means will have a configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, simulating the configuration of a space ship.

' The sheet material 10 carries at a suitable location a non-return valve 12, shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 2 and 4, and a can, which contains a gas which is lighter than air and which is under pressure in the can, can be applied in a well known manner to the valve 12 so as to admit the gas which is lighter than air into the interior of the container means A in order to inflate the latter. For example, a can of pressurized helium may be applied to the valve 12 in order to fill the container means A with helium, and when filled in this manner the container means will rise into the air. When the buoyant force is exactly opposed by the weight of the sheet material 10 7 plus the weight of the various components described bemeans A is a reversible electric motor 14 (FIG. 4) carried by the container means at its underside, and the reversible electric motor 14 is operatively connected with a two or three blade propeller 16 which will be rotated in one direction or. the v other'depending upon the O direction in which the motor 14 runs. Suitable electric conductors 30 and 32 are connectedelectrically with the windings of the motor 14 and form a pair of conductors of the conductor means C. The motor 14 is fixedly mounted on a wall of a substantially open frame 18 which is made of a plastic material, for example, and fixed to the underside of the container means A in any suit-able way as by a suitable adhesive or by heat sealing, for example, and the frame 18 has a downwardly directed side wall which extends partly around the propeller means 16 so as to determine in part the limits of the stream of air produced thereby and so as to reduce the possibility of any objects being engaged by the propeller 16 or of the operator accidentally touching the rotating propeller 16.

At its left side the container means A carries a reversible electric motor 20L, shown most clearly in FIG. 3, and this reversible electric 'motor 20L drives a propeller 22L in one direction or the other depending on the direction in which the motor 20L runs. The motor 20L is connected to a pair of conductors 34L and 38 which are connected into the circuit in a manner described below. The motor 20L is fixedly carried "by a relatively open frame 24L which is made of plastic, for example, and fixed by adhesive, heat sealing, or the like to the exterior left side of the container means A, and, in order to provide a substantially open framework which will not obstruct the flow of air to any appreciable extent, the frame 24L is not only open at its right end, as viewed in FIG. 3, but in addition it is formed with a pair of openings 26 located forwardly of the motor 20L and one of which is shown in FIG. 3. In precisely the same way there is mounted on the right side of the container means A a 'frame 24R which is a mirror image of the frame 24L and which houses in its interior a reversible electric motor 20R which drives a propeller 22R identical with the propeller 22L, the motor 20R being identical with the motor 20L, and these elements at the right side of the container means are indicated only in the schematic wiring diagram of FIG. 5.

Within the frame 18 container means A carries at its underside a fitting 28 which is fluid-tightly fixed to the container means A and through which all of the conductors from the motors extend in a fluid-tight manner, and all of these conductors form the conductor means C which is :flexible and which extends to the manually operable selecting means D which may be located remote from the container means A during operation of the toy, as is apparent from FIG. 1.

As may be seen from FIG. 5, the conductor means C is made up of five conductors, namely the conductors 30 and 32 which are electrically connected with the motor 14 for providing up and down movement of the craft, the conductors 36 and 38 which are respectively connected electrically with the side motors 20R and 20L, and a fifth conductor 34 which has branches 34L and 34R respectively connected electrically with the motor 20L and 20R. Thus, the five conductors 30, 32,34, 36 and 38 extend in a suitable flexible casing, for example, from the container means A to the manually operable selecting means D.

The manually operable selecting means D carries pair of contacts 40a and 40b which are adapted to be connected to a suitable source of current such as replaceable dry cell batteries any number of which may be grouped together and mounted within the box 70 which houses the components of theselectin-g means D, this box 70 having any suitable removable cover which can be removed in a well known manner to give access to the interior of the box so that, when necessary, the batteries can be replaced. The contacts 40a and 40b which are connected to the source of current are respectively connected by conductors 42a and 42b to a manually a pair of contacts 46a and 46b, respectively, and which when turned in the other direction will connect the conductors 42a and 42b respectively with the contacts 43a and 48b to which the conductors 32 and 30 are connected in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 5.,

52, as shown in FIG. 5, so that when the switch 44 is moved forwardly, for example, to place the conductors 42a and 42b in engagement with the contacts 46a and 46b, respectively, the current will flow in one direction through the motor 14 while when the switch 44 is moved rearwardly toward the operator to place the conductors 42a and 42b in engagement with the contacts 48a and 48b, the current will flow in the opposite direction through the motor 14.

The movable switchmember 44 extends to the exterior of the container 70 through a suitable slot in the top wall 122 thereof, as shown in FIG. 1, and any suitable indicia may be provided on the top wall 122, for example, to indicate to the operator that forward movement of the switch 44 will produce downward movement of the container means A, for example, while rearward movement of the switch member 44 toward the operator, assuming that the box 70 is oriented as shown in FIG. 1 in front of the operator, will produce upward movement of the container means A. Thus, depending upon the direction in which the operator moves the switch member 44 of the switch assembly 45, the propeller 16 will be driven in one direction or the other to produce either upward or downward movement of the container means The structure for controlling the motors 20R and 20LI includes a stationary contact means and a movable contact means which is tiltable in a manner described below to cooperate with the stationary contact means. The stationary contact means is made up of a plurality of elongated contact members which extend at least part of the way along a plurality of concentric circles. As may be seen from FIG. 5, the stationary contact means includes an inner circular contact 54 which extends through a complete circle, and next to the inner contact member 54 a pair of contacts 56a and 56b which form part of the same circle but which are spaced from each other.

as indicated in FIG. 5. These contacts 56a and 56b are surrounded by a contact 58 which extends along a complete circle concentric with the circles along which the contacts 54 and 56a, 56b extend, and beyond the contact 58 are a pair of contacts 60a and 60b which extend source of current, which may be the same source,

of current that is connected to the contacts 40a and 40b, and these contacts 64a and 64b are permanently connected with the contacts 60b and 56a by a pair of conductors 66a and 66b, respectively, as indicated in FIG. 5. Thus, the source of current to the side motors will always flow through the contacts 60b and 56a and through i the conductors 66a and 66b to the source of current which is connected to the contacts 64a and 64b.

The contacts 56a and 60a are in permanent electrical connection with each other through a jumper 68a, and a second jumper 68b places the contacts 56a and 60b in permanent electrical connection with each other.

' Referring now to FIG. 6, it will be seen that the box 70 has in its interior a ledge 72 on which a plate 74 is mounted. The box 70 as well as the plate 74 is made of a suitable electrically non-conductive material such as a suitable plastic, and the several stationary contacts referred to above are embedded partly within and thus carried by the plate 74, as indicated in FIG. 6.

-' As is apparent from FIG. 8, which shows the plate 74 as it appears when looking toward its bottom. surface, this plate 74 is formed with the elongated radially extending openings 76 which are of a substantially rectangular configuration so that the several stationary contacts are freely accessible in these openings, and it is in these openings that the conductors 66a and 66b are conveniently connected electrically with the contacts 6% and 56a, respectively, and also the jumpers 68a and 68b are connected to the contacts 60a and 56a, on the one hand, and 60b and 56b, on the other hand, in a pair of these openings 76.

The tiltable contact means includes four radial rows of electrically conductive, relatively short bars 78 which are embedded in a circular tiltable plate 80 which is also made of an electrically non-conductive, plastic material. The rows of contacts 78 which are visible in FIG. 6, are aligned over the stationary contacts, and it is apparent that in these rows there is one extra inner contact 78 which will not engage any of the stationary contacts. When tilted to the right, as viewed in FIG. 6, the five contacts 78 shown at the right of FIG. 6 and located over the stationary contacts will resmctively engage the stationary contacts 54, 56b, 58, 60a and 62. In the same way all except the innermost one of the row or contacts 78 shown at the left of FIG. 6 will respectively engage the five stationary contacts shown on the left in FIG. 6. The plate 80 also carried two additional rows of contacts 78 which are respectively situated at 90 from. the rows visible in FIG. 6, and in this case there are only five contacts 78 in each row. When the plate 80. is tilted forwardly the five contacts 78 of the front row will respectively engage the five stationary contacts therebeneath, andwhen the plate 80 is tilted rearwardly toward the operator, who is situated in front of the box 70, the rear row of five contact elements 78 will respectively engage the five contacts therebeneath.

The several tiltable rows of contacts 78 are electrically interconnected with each other in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 7. Thus, as may be seen from FIG. 7, the plate 80 carries sets of contacts having springy fingers 82 which resiliently press against the several contact members 78 so as tobe in electrical engagement therewith. These contacts 78 extend into four radial openings 84 formed in the plate 80, and there is visible in FIG. 7 inclined surfaces 86 which form one side of the openings 84.

Referring first to the upper part of FIG. 7, the springy contact fingers 82 of a contact member 88 respectively engage the outermost pair of contacts 78 of the front row of five contacts, and a contact member 90 has one springy finger 82 engaging the middle contact 78 of the front row of five contacts 78, while the other springy finger of the contact 90 directly engages the springy finger of the contact 88 which engages the second one of the contacts 78, so that in this way the second contact 78 of the front row of contacts 78 is in electrical engagement with both of the contacts 88 and 98. The contact 92 has its springy fingers 82 engaging the two innermost contacts 78 of the front row of contacts. Shown at the lower portion of FIG. 7 is an inner contact 94 having its springy fingers 82 engaging the two innermost contacts 78 of the rear row of five contacts 78, and in addition there are contacts 96 and 98 fixed to the plate 80 and having their outermost springy fingers engaging the middle and outermost contacts 78 of the rear row of contacts 78. The contact member 96 has one of its fingers extending over and engaging the finger of the contact 98 which engages the second contact 78 of the rear row of contacts.

Referring now to the right of FIG. 7, it will be seen that there is an outermost contact 109 having its springy fingers 82' engaging the two outermost contacts 78 shown at the right of FIG. 6, and the next contact 102 has its springy fingers engaging the pair of intermediate contacts 78 shown at the, right of FIG. 6, while the innermost contact 104 has its springy fingers engaging the pair of innermost contacts 78 of the right row of contacts shown in- FIG. 6.

Referring now to the left of FIG. 7 it will be seen that the innermost contact 106 has its springy fingers engaging the innermost pair of contacts 78 of the left row shown in FIG. 6, while the next contact 188 engages the intermediate pair of contacts 78 and the outermost contact 110 has its springy finger engaging the outermost pair of contacts 78 of the left row of contacts 78 visible in FIG. 6.

As is shown in FIG. 7, there are four sets of springy contact members each of which includes three contact members, and the three contact members are respectively connected with the conductors 34, 36 and 38, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Thus, the outermost contacts of the four sets are connected to the conductor 36, while the intermediate contacts of the four sets are connected to the conductor 38, and the innermost contacts of the four sets are connected to the conductor 34. Actually these wires which are directly connected with the springy contact elements which are carried by the plate 88 are connected to a suitable set of bus bars or the like which are in turn connected to the conductors 34, 36, and 38 which form part of the flexible conductor means extending to the motors carried by the container means A, and the result is the same as if the conductors 34, 36 and 38 were respectively connected with the several springy contact members carried by the plate in the manner shown in FIG. 7, so that it is believed to be clearer to indicate the wires connected to the contacts as having the same reference characters as the wires which extend to the several motors with which the contacts are respectively electrically connected.

As is apparent from FIG. 6, the bottom central portion 112 of the plate 80 is convexly curved and extends into a central opening of the plate 74 so that in this way the plate 89 can tilt in all directions. A tubular extension 114 is fixed to the plate 80 at a central portion thereof and extends upwardly therefrom, and the tubular extension 114 as well as the central portion of the plate 80 is axially bored, as shown. A post 116 is fixed to and extends upwardly from the tubular extension 114 through an opening 124 which is formed in the upper wall 122 of the box 70, so that the upper end of the post 116 is accessible to the operator. An elongated coil spring 118 extends through the aligned bores of the plate 80 and the tubular extension 114 and is hooked at its bottom end onto a rod 120 which extends across the central opening of the plate 74 and engages the plate 74 at its underside, while the top end of the spring 118 is hooked onto a cross pin which extends across the tubular extension 114 at its top end where'the tubular extension 114 is fixed to the post 116. Thus, when the post 116 is not engaged by the operator the spring 118 will act, because of. the fact that it is always under a certain initial tension, to turn the plate 80 to the neutral position shown in FIG. 6 where none of the tiltable contacts 78 engage any of the stationary contacts carried by the plate 74.

- Referring now to FIG. 5, it will be seen that when the operator tilts the post 116 forwardly along the forwardly extending branch of the opening 124, the pair of contacts 88 and will place the stationary contacts 62, 60b, and 58 in electrical connection with each other, while the innermost contact 92 will place the stationary contacts 56a and 54 in electrical connection with each other, as

shown diagrammatically in FIG. 5. Since the conductors 36 and38 are respectively connected with the contacts 88 and 90, they will both be' electrically connectedwith the contact 60b, .andinasmuch as the conductor 66:: is

connected to the contact 60b, it is apparent that the con- 20L, respectively, and the branches 34L and 34R continue the circuit from the motors to the conductor 34 which is connected to the contact 92. Because this contact 92 at this time engages the conductors 54 and 56a, it is apparent that the current will fiow through the conductor 66b back to the battery, and it is thus clear that at this time the manually operatable selecting means has through the conductor means C placed the pair of motors in a parallel circuit where they are connected in parallel with each other so that the motors simultaneously rotate in the same directions, and at this time the directions of rotation of the motors are such that the propellers 22R and 22L will be driven to advance the container means A forwardly. i

If the operator tilts the post 116 rearwardly then the bars 78 which are engaged by the contact 94 will simultaneously engage the stationary contacts 54 and 56b, and at the same time the bars engaged by the contacts 96 and 98 will engage the contacts 58, 60a and 62. The result is that the current from the source will flow through the conductor 66a to the stationary contact.60b, from the latter through the jumper 68b to the contact 56b and then through the springy contact 94 along the conductor 34 to the pair of branches 34R and 34L and thus through the windings of the motors R and 20L back along the conductors 36 and 38 to the pair of contacts 96 and 98 which are both connected electrically with the stationary contact 60a which by the jumper 68a is connected to the contact 56a which is in turn connected to the conductor 66b so as to complete the circuit in this way. Thus, at this time the motors 20R and 20L are also connected in parallel with each other but the current flows therethrough in the reverse direction so that the motors 22R and 22L are driven in a reverse direction and at this time the container means A will be moved rearwardly by the pair of propellers 22R and 22L which simultaneously rotate at this time in a direc tion which will move the container means A rearwardly.

If the operator tilts the post 116 to the right along the right branch of the opening 124, as viewed in FIG. 9, the outer pair of stationary conductors 60a and 62 will be connected to each other by the contact 100 which is connected to the conductor 36, while the next pair of conductors 56b and 58 will be interconnected with each other through the contact 102 which is connected to the conductor 38. The innermost contact 104, which is connected to the conductor 34, will only engage the innermost contact 54 so that in this way the conductor 34 is effectively eliminated from the circuit. With the parts in this position the current from the source will flow through the conductor 66a to the stationary contact 60b :and through the jumper 68b to the stationary contact 56!) and then through the contact 102 to the conductor 38 which thus places the motor 20L in the circuit. The conductor 34L at this time,'because the conductor 34 is eliminated from the circuit, places the motor 20R in series with the motor 20L through the conductor 34R, and from the motor 20R the current flows through the conductor 36 to the contact 100 which is electrically connected through the stationary contact 60a and the jumper 68a to the stationary contact 56a which is connected to the conductor 66b so that in this way the circuit is completed. It is apparent that at this time not only are the electric motors 20R and 20L connected in series, but, in addition, they rotate in opposite directions. The motor 20L will rotate in the direction which drives the propeller 22L to tend to advance the container means A forwardly while the motor 20R is driven in a reverse direction to rotate the propeller 22R in a direction which tends to move the container means A rearwardly. Thus, there is at the right side of the container means A, a force tending to move it rearwardly and at its left side a force tending to move it forwardly with the result that the container means A at this time will execute a right turn.

If the operator chooses to move the post 116 along the left branch of the opening 124, shown most clearly in FIG. 9, then the contact 110 will electrically interconnect the stationary contacts 62 and b, while the contact 108 will electrically interconnect the stationary contacts 58 and 56a. The innermost contact 106 will engage the inner ring 54 but since the innermost bar 78 of the left row of bar 78 shown in FIG. 6 does'not engage any of the stationary contacts the conductor 34 will at this time also be effectively eliminated from the circuit. With the parts in this position, the current will flow along the conductor 66a to the conductor 60b and from the latter through the contact 110 to the conductor 36 to the motor 20R which is connected in series with the motor 20L at this time also, because of the elimination of the conductor 34 from the circuit, so that now the current will flow from the motor 20R to the motor 20L and from the latter along the conductor 38 back to the contact 108 which is connected electrical-1y with,

the conductor 56a so that the current will now flow back to the battery through the conductor 66b, and in this way the circuit is completed. Thus, it is apparent that at this time also the pair of motors 20R and 20L will be connected in series and will simultaneously rotate in opposite directions so as to drive the propellers 22R and 22L in opposite directions, but with this connection the propeller 22R will ten-d to advance the containerv means A forwardly while the propeller 22L will tend to move the container means A rearwardly. Thus, there will be at the right side of the container means A a force.

tending to move forwardly and at the left side a force tending to move it rearwardly with the result that the container means A will at this time execute the left turn.

As may be seen from FIG. 7, the plate 80 is formed with a contact into which a springy wire 151 extends,

this wire being fixed at its bottom end to the plate 74 and extending upwardly therefrom to the contact 150 for automatically returning the plate 80 to the angular position shown in FIG. 7. In the event that the operator should displace it from this angular'positiomthe springy wire 151 will in no way interfere with the tilting of the plate 180.

It is of course apparent that the contacts 104 and 106 could be eliminated and in this way the conductor 34 will also be effectively eliminated from the circuit during execution-of right and left turns, but the abovedescribed construction is preferred since the three wires are required for the contacts which produce forward and rearward movement of the container means, and by maintaining three wires going to three contacts to execute right and left turns the operator will experience substantially the same resistance to tilting irrespective of the direction in which the operator chooses to tilt the post 116. If the innermost contacts 104 and 106 with the wires extending thereto were eliminated it would be easier to tilt the post 116 to the right and left than to tilt it forwardly and rearwardly, in the feel of the post 116 is undesirable.

and such a change Also, it is clear that in the actual construction'the wires 34, 36 and 38 could be connected directl to contacts 54, 62 and 58, respectively, as shown in FIG. 5, so that the above-described connections of these wires to the springy contacts carried by plate 80 could be eliminated. With such a construction, the springy contacts and the bars 78 which they engage, as described above,

would serve only to interconnect the several stationary contacts in the manner shown diagrammatically in FIG. 5.

It is of course apparent that the operator can operate the switch 45 simultaneously with the post 116, so that in this way the container means A can change its elevation while moving forwardly or rearwardly or while executing a right turn or left turn.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy space ship comprising container means adapted to be filled withwa gas which is lighter than air and, when filled with said gas, floating in the air in a state of substantial equilibrium, said container means having a configuration which simulates the configuration of a space ship, a first reversible electric motor means carried by said container means, downwardly directed propeller means operatively connected to said motor means to be driven thereby and located at the exterior of said container means beneath the latter so that when said motor means drives said propeller means in one direction, said container means will move up, While when said motor means drives said propeller means in the opposite direction, said container means will move down, second reversible electric motor means carried by said container means, horizontally directed propeller means operatively connected to said second motor means to be driven thereby and secured to the exterior of said container means so that when said motor means drives said propeller means in one direction, said container means will move in a direction substantially horizontal and forward, and while said motor means drives said propeller in the opposite direction, said container means will move backwards along a substantially horizontal path, and means for controlling said first and second motor means from a remote location so as to selectively move said container means horizontally and vertically.

2. The space ship as recited in claim 1 wherein said second motor means comprises a pair of horizontally directed motors secured on opposite sides of said space ship and means for selectively operating either one or both of said motors independently so as to control the horizontal displacement of said space ship in space.

3. The space ship as recited in claim 2 wherein said control means comprises conductors means connected to said first and second motor means and extending there from to a location distant from said container means when the latter floats in space, and manually operable selecting means remotely situated from said container means and operatively connected with said conductor means for providing through the latter an electrical circuit which at the option of the operator will rotate said first and second propeller means in one direction or another to selectively position the container in space.

4. A space ship according to claim 3 additionally comprising substantially open frame means carried by said container means at the exterior thereof and supporting said first motor means, said frame means extending at least part of the Way around said propeller means to control at least partly the air stream produced thereby and to reduce the likelihood of contact by the operator with the rotating propeller means.

5. A toy space ship comprising container means adapted to be filled with the gas which is lighter than air and, when filled with said gas, floating in the air in a state of substantial equilibrium, said container means having a configuration which simulates the configuration of a space ship, a pair of reversible electric motors carried by said container means, right and left propellers respectively connected to said motors to be driven thereby and respectively located at right and left sides of said container means at the exterior thereof, electrical conductor means extending from said motors to a location remote from said container means when said latter floats in the air, third reversible motor means carried by said container means, downwardly directed propeller means operatively connected to said third motor means to 'be driven thereby and located at the exterior of said container means beneath the latter, said third motor means being connected to said electrical conductor means, said electrical conductor means extending from said motors to a location remote from said container means when the latter floats in the air, and a control assembly situated at a location remote from said container means when the latter floats in the air, said control assembly including stationary contact means and manually tilt-able contact means tiltably forwardly or rearwardly or to the right or left, at the option of the operator when the control assembly has a given orientation relative to the operator, said stationary and tiltable contact means being electrically connected with said conductor means and with a source of current for providing when the operator tilts said tiltable cont-act means forwardly, simultaneous rotation of said propellers in a direction which advances said container means forwardly, when the operator tilts said tiltable control means rearwardly, simultaneous rotation of said propellers in an opposite direction which will move said container means rearwardly when the operator tilts said tiltable contact means to the right rotation of said left propeller in a direction which tends to advance said container means forwardly, and rotation of said right propeller in a direction which tends to move said container means rearwardly so that said container will be turned to the right, and when the operator tilts said tiltable contact means to the left, rotation of the right propeller in a direction tending to advance said container means forwardly and rotation of the left propeller in a direction tending to move said container means rearwardly so that the container means will turn to the left.

6. The space ship as recited in claim 5 wherein spring means is operatively connected to said tiltable contact means for yieldably uring the latter to a neutral position out of engagement with said stationary contact means.

7. The space ship as recited in claim 5 wherein said stationary contact means includes a plurality of elongated contacts respectively extending at least part of the way along a plurality of concentric circles, said tiltable contact means when tilted in a selected direction interconnecting predetermined stationary contact.

8. The space ship as recited in claim 5 wherein said tiltable contact means and said stationary contact means cooperate to provide with said conductor means a parallel connection between said motors when said tiltable means is tilted either forwardly or rearwardly and a series connected between said motors when said tiltable contact means is tilted either to the right or to the left.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,027,590 5/1912 Bucher 24430 2,134,042 10/ 1938 Hoffman. 2,191,759 2/ 1940 Hilberth 24430 2,515,511 7/1950 Hansen 46244 2,779,595 1/195'7 Ensley 46226 X 2,936,386 5/ 1960 Cohn 46-244 X 2,940,217 6/1960 Hauge 46-244 2,968,119 1/ 1961 Glass et a1. 3,033,946 5/1962 Meyer et al. 2006 3,093,712 6/ 1963 Walsh et al. 2006 3,101,569 8/1963 Giardina 46244 3,102,363 9/ 1963 Ferriot 46-244- 3,l65,861 1/ 1965 Stanzel 46-228 FOREIGN PATENTS 993,042 7/ 1951 France.

1,346,427 11/1963 France.

OTHER REFERENCES Ragner, M. G.: American Modeler, 4-61 (pp. 14, 15 and 46 relied on).

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

L. I. BOVASSO, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TOY SPACE SHIP COMPRISING CONTAINER MEANS ADAPTEED TO BE FILLED WITH A GAS WHICH IS LIGHTER THAN AIR AND, WHEN FILLED WITH SAID GAS, FLOATING IN THE AIR IN A STATE OF SUBSTANTIAL EQUILIBRIUM, SAID CONTAINER MEANS HAVING A CONFIGURATION WHICH SIMULATES THE CONFIGURATION OF A SPACE SHIP, A FIRST REVERSIBLE ELECTRIC MOTOR MEANS CARRIED BY SAID CONTAINER MEANS, DOWNWARDLY DIRECTED PROPELLER MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID MOTOR MEANS TO BE DRIVEN THEREBY AND LOCATED AT THE EXTERIOR OF SAID CONTAINER MEANS BENEATH THE LATTER SO THAT WHEN SAID MOTOR MEANS DRIVES SAID PROPELLER MEANS IN ONE DIRECTION, SAID CONTAINER MEANS WILL MOVE UP, WHILE WHEN SAID MOTOR MEANS DRIVES SAID PROPELLER MEANS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, SAID CONTAINER MEANS WILL MOVE DOWN, SECOND REVERSIBLE ELECTRIC MOTOR MEANS CARRIED BY SAID CONTAINER MEANS, HORIZONTALLY DIRECTED PROPELLER MEANS OPERATIVELY 